Maine news, sports, weather | Kennebec Journal, Augusta, Maine

Residents offer comment on plan for Hallowell's future

By Betty Adams badams@centralmaine.com
Staff Writer

HALLOWELL -- More than 30 residents turned up Tuesday for a public hearing on a draft plan to lay out the future look of the smallest city in the state.

Most of them opted to listen rather than comment.

Mayor Charlotte Warren told them the work on the plan "will be one of the most important things we'll do as a city."

The public hearing in the cramped council chambers of Hallowell City Hall was the second major airing of the document that provides a road map for future development of Hallowell.

Once city council approves the document, the city's Ordinance Review Committee will begin to draft ordinance changes that reflect the plan's direction. The comprehensive plan update -- which would replace a 1997 update -- is the result of more than three years work by a committee headed by Dawn Gallagher, Warren said.

Frank O'Hara of Planning Decisions, who was the facilitator for the committee, said the city Planning Board made some changes, adding protections for more streams as well as recommending updating noise and parking ordinances.

He also said the Planning Board reorganized the document to try to make it more user-friendly.

Tom Deraps of Central Street, representing a group called Concerned Citizens of Hallowell, questioned the rationale for rewriting city ordinances for subdivision street designs and water and sewer standards.

"We should require that subdivision developers use the reasonable and explicit ordinances that the City of Hallowell has already created," Deraps said in remarks he distributed to council members and the public.

"The city has a really old antiquated, subdivision ordinance," O'Hara said. "Updating of subdivision regulations is a major priority."

He said the consensus has been that large subdivisions need more regulation, and that connections/expansion of existing public water and sewer systems should be encouraged. O'Hara assured Deraps public input would be sought during that update process.

Mark Goldberg, also of Central Street, recommended the elimination of "weasel words," such as "appropriate" and "flexible" from the document.

Councilor Ed Cervone, speaking on behalf of a Maple Street resident and a committee working on the reuse of the Stevens School property, offered a revised list of 14 goals for the site. The revised list deleted one reference that said, "There may continue to be a pre-release center on the site."

Jane Moore, of Winthrop Street, commended those who worked on the plan, but said she worries about funding it.

"When do you start discussing money?" she asked.

Warren said those discussions come up when the city council works on the budget, generally in March.

Terry Berry, of Water Street, a real estate broker for 31 years, told the councilors to think carefully about the comprehensive plan.

"When you plan, you're taking some rights from some and giving some rights to others," he said. "When you start restricting rights and what I can do with what I own, you're dipping into my assets. It has to be done with real reverence."

Warren said council will hold a workshop on the comprehensive plan on Sept. 21 at 6 p.m. The meeting is open to the public, but it is not a public hearing, she said.

City Manager Todd Shea said written comments must be submitted to the city manager or the clerk's office by Sept. 14 for councilors to review prior to the workshop.

Here are some highlights of the comprehensive plan update recommendations:

* extend the "look" of Water Street in both directions;

* maintain the historic character and create safe streets in in-town neighborhoods; be more flexible in ordinances with regard to historical preservation;

* create a master plan for development of Stevens School complex;

* keep minimum lot sizes of one acre in the rural area and require large subdivisions to preserve open space

* seek grants to upgrade downtown apartments and provide incentives to developers to include affordable housing in developments.

Betty Adams -- 621-5631

badams@centralmaine.com